8 BULLETIN 1350, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
and 7). and many of them have luxuriant growths of grasses and 
herbaceous vegetation. Others have little or no plant life, but much 
outcropping of bedrock. An island of the type last described is of 
little value for fox raising, not only because of the lack of sufficient 
shade but also because the denning ground is too limited. 
LOCATION AND SOIL 
The northward extension of island fur farms is limited by the 
necessity for freedom from ice bridging to adjacent lands, either 
by the channel freezing over or by drifting ice. It is for this reason 
that island farms in Alaska are restricted mainly to the southern 
coast line and the Aleutian Chain. The southward limit is governed 
by the need for sufficient cold weather to produce good fur. Xear 
the mainland, where the winter temperatures average lower than at 
Fig. 7. — General view of the top of Aghiyuk Island. There are no trpes on the 
island and, except in hollows, very little vegetation of any kind 
the outer coast, the southern limit will be farther south than in the 
mild outer ocean belt. The mainland area has produced good blue- 
fox skins as far south as Petersburg, and fur farms are being 
started over 100 miles farther south. It is possible that the island 
blue-fox zone on the Pacific coast near the mainland may extend into 
northern British Columbia. Along the outer coast, blue-fox farms 
are being established as far south as Hydaburg, on the west coast of 
Prince of "Wales Island, although the winter climate in the section 
is exceedingly mild. Fur farmers on the western islands of the 
Aleutian Chain, which also have a mild climate, receive satisfactory 
prices for blue-fox skins. 
Blue foxes can be successfully raised on any type of soil that is 
well drained and affords suitable shade and denning grounds. It has 
not been definitely determined whether certain types of soil are more 
favorable than others to fox parasites; soils possessing an undue 
amount of moisture, however, and densely shaded situations are 
favorable to their development. The elements in the soil appear to 
have no bearing on the quality of the fur produced. 
